Mississippi State traveled to Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina, for round two with the South Carolina Gamecocks. South Carolina, winless in the Southeastern Conference at 0-6, would hope a physical, low-scoring game would benefit the Gamecocks as the 14th-ranked Mississippi State came to town looking for the season sweep.

Coming into the game, Mississippi State needed a get-right game against the Gamecocks after a disappointing game on Tuesday night in Knoxville, where the Bulldogs ran into the Tennessee Volunteers buzz saw—eventually, losing to the Volunteers 68-56, falling to 3-3 in Southeastern Conference while maintaining a 15-4 overall record.

The first half between 14th-ranked Mississippi State and South Carolina went about as slow and low-scoring as possible. South Carolina held the Mississippi State Bulldogs to 28 points, while Mississippi State managed a 28-20 halftime lead over the Gamecocks.

As adjustments got made, the second half got underway, with the Bulldogs putting together a lead that extended out to double digits before a South Carolina run following the under-8 media timeout cut the deficit to single digits. A long three-pointer from Claudell Harris Jr extended the Mississippi State lead to 53-44, forcing the Gamecocks to call timeout with 4:24 remaining on the game clock. At the final media timeout, South Carolina had cut the Mississippi State lead to 53-49 with 2:25 on the clock. A pair of free throws would make it a two-point game with 2:13 remaining. A made basket on the other end from Keshawn Murphy would push the lead back to four in favor of Mississippi State before Collins Murray responded with free throws, making it a two-point game again. With 22 seconds on the game clock, Zachary Davis picked the pocket of Mississippi State, tying the game and eventually sending the Bulldogs and Gamecocks to overtime tied at 55. A pair of free throws from Josh Hubbard with 56.5 remaining in OT would give the Bulldogs a 59-57 lead over South Carolina. Basket interference would give Mississippi State the ball back with 35.4 left on the clock, giving the Bulldogs a chance to win the game at the charity stripe. A few things happened, but the Bulldogs of Mississippi State escaped Columbia in the end with a massive road win over the Gamecocks.

Riley Kugel led the way in scoring for the Bulldogs with 15 points. Keshawn Murphy had 13, while Josh Hubbard finished the day with 12 points.

Despite their winless Southeastern Conference record, South Carolina is a solid team, and any road win in this conference is a good win. Mississippi State weathered the storm, handled adversity, and left South Carolina with a good conference win.

Mississippi State returns home on Wednesday night for a pair of home games against Alabama on Wednesday and Missouri on Saturday night before hitting the road next Tuesday night for a matchup against the Georgia Bulldogs.

Photo Credits- Mississippi State Basketball on X